Contest Results

M Dressler is the nom de plume of novelist, essayist, and professor Mylene Dressler. Following a successful career as a professional ballet dancer, she earned her PhD at Rice University, where she wrote and finished her first novel, The Medusa Tree, about a young dancer struggling against war and the myths of beauty and power entangling her family. Praised for this debut work as “a natural born storyteller” (Library Journal), she followed it with her “splendid” (The New York Times) second novel, The Deadwood Beetle, the story of an aging entomologist haunted by his harrowing, war-time past. Her stories often explore characters battling their ghosts, including her comic third novel, The Floodmakers (“a hilariously poisonous, devilish little tale”—Booklist), about a playwright who must decide whether to live or die among his obsessive family.

In her most recent book, the genre-bending The Last To See Me, she chose to reinvent the classic ghost story, creating “a seamless, gothic tale with a modern twist” (Publishers Weekly) praised as a “bewitching, gorgeous mystery” by Kirkus Reviews and as “chilling” and “unforgettable” by Booklist. She is currently at work on her fifth novel, another genre-bending gothic. In addition, her short stories and essays can be read in Literary Hub, the Kenyon Review, Creative Nonfiction, Readers Digest, The Massachusetts Review, and The Washington Post, among others.

She lives and writes in North Carolina, and in the canyon country of southern Utah.

From Book Pipeline:“Shows cinematic potential from the first chapter, then drifts into a contemplative and grounded experience. Beyond Dressler’s striking illustration of two eras–the California coast of the early 20th century and the near-future–the narrative’s slow burn builds up certain expectations, tears them down, and by story’s end presents us with something unique and memorable. Our POV through the eyes of a young woman long-deceased contributes to an engaging, emotionally jarring ride. The backdrop: nostalgic and oddly timeless. It’s often said there’s an X factor in the arts. In acting, in music, in writing. . . . The Last to See Me is certainly no exception to that rule. One could make a case, though, that this is no genre reinvention–it’s a reimagining. And a no-brainer for film adaptation.”

– Finalists (3) –

Glasswork Empiresby Spencer Janes

Originally from the small town of Longmeadow, Massachusetts, Spencer Janes studied English and Film at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, graduating Magna Cum Laude in 2015. His Creative Writing thesis at Dartmouth served as the bones of what became Glasswork Empires. Since then, he has moved to Los Angeles and embarked upon a career in the entertainment industry, working as a script reader and development assistant at a small production company while finding time to work on his own writing, both prose and screenwriting.

Spencer’s feature film script Term Limits was a Semifinalist in the Academy Nicholl Fellowship screenwriting competition in 2015, while subsequent scripts have received recognition in a variety of competitionss.

The as-of-yet unpublished Glasswork Empires tells the story of a young woman in a futuristic world, forced into isolation and made to watch as society crumbles outside her windows. As she looks back on the decisions that brought her here, she gradually comes to believe that the answers to the global revolution around her may be hiding in her own past.

CHOON-OK Jade Harmon is a professional martial arts teacher and the only woman to hold the highest rank in the Korean martial art of Kuk Sool Won. Iron Butterfly, co-authored with Ana María Rodríguez, is Harmon’s true story.

As a young girl born in the small South Korean island of Koje Do a few years after the Korean War ended, Harmon faced a dismal situation. She was the youngest of seven siblings in a large, destitute family that could not afford food, medical care, or coal for the frigid winters. The family expected her to follow in the footsteps of a traditional Korean woman, but Harmon wrote her own destiny.

Propelled by her strong will and determination, she embarked on a journey that defied Korean family traditions. She found her calling in her early teen years while watching a martial arts class in the South Korean city of Pusan. Harmon decided then to dedicate her life to training and teaching martial arts, despite the opposition of her family and several martial arts masters. The realization that she could only accomplish this dream in the United States – a world where women had options – ignited her fierce determination.

Iron Butterfly follows Harmon’s journey; a compelling story that illustrates her triumph over often repressive family traditions, language barriers, and gender discrepancies. Her story also provides insights into Korean culture, including the slowly dying tradition of the “women of the sea,” who like Harmon’s mother did in her time, free dive to harvest seafood and feed their families.

Harmon lives with her family in Houston, Texas, where she and her husband own a successful martial arts school and teach students of all ages.

ANA MARIA RODRIGUEZ is a writer with 26 books and over 80 magazine articles to her credit. She began her career as a scientist and later became a science writer for children and adults. Her writing also includes biographies of outstanding people and true stories that blend history and science.

Rodríguez’s work has appeared in the children’s magazines Highlights, Current Health, and Scholastic’s SuperScience, among others. A short story, The Mermaid, was published in Los Angeles Times (2012). Her most recent books, Animal Secrets Revealed! (2018), comprise a six-book series about how animals survive in the most strange ways. The books feature, for example, scuba diving spiders, the meerkat’s school for hunting scorpions, and the secret of the deceiving striped lizards. In the adult market, Rodriguez’s work has appeared in the trade magazines Just Labs and EQUUS.

Iron Butterfly (2011), co-authored with Choon-Ok Jade Harmon, is Rodríguez’s first young-adult/adult book and a finalist in the 2017 Book Pipeline competition. Iron Butterfly is the true story of Choon-Ok Harmon, a woman from a small South Korean island who defied family traditions and changed her life forever in the pursuit of her ultimate goal of becoming a professional martial artist and the highest-ranking woman in the martial art of Kuk Sool Won.

Rodríguez’s accolades include Highlight’s History Feature of the Year Award (2006), two School Librarians International Awards in Science Books (2008 and 2009), and three Science Books & Films Best Book List Awards (2006, 2007, and 2011). Rodríguez holds a doctorate degree in science and immunology, and taught writing at the Institute of Children’s Literature for about 10 years. She lives with her family in Houston, Texas.

Unzipped: The Chronicles of a Fashion Fit Modelby Darlene Parris Young

For nearly half a century, Darlene Parris Young had a successful career in the modeling industry, gracing the covers of magazines and walking the runways. But Darlene’s real calling came as a fashion fit model–working behind the scenes as a living mannequin for designers who would use her body as a template for their fashions. Darlene became known as “The Coat Hanger with a Mouth!” for her outspoken interactions with designers as she explained what women want in clothes.

But behind the scenes at home, however, it was a different story. Surviving a violent and emotionally absent father, and later a series of abusive husbands, Darlene’s transformation from victim to a voice for women took years.

Throughout these marriages, Darlene relived her trouble relationship with her father, a WWII decorated war hero so damaged that it was only after a spiritual awakening and a near death experience (NDE) at sea to understand that her journey to heal from abuse was not so unlike her father’s unsuccessfully quest to heal from the wounds of war.

Unzipped: Chronicles of a Fashion Fit Model focuses on her career as she worked for top designers including Diane von Furstenberg, Ralph Lauren and Chanel, traveling the globe with celebrities, struggling to find love.

GREG EDWARDS wrote the scripts for Application Pending (Off-Broadway, Drama Desk nomination) and Craving for Travel (Off-Broadway), both co-authored with Andy Sandberg, lyrics for Neurosis: A New Musical (Merry-Go-Round Playhouse, SALT Award for Best New Musical), and book and lyrics for Evelyn Shaffer and the Chance of a Lifetime (City Theatre, Samuel French OOB Festival winner, Take a Ten Musicals), Taking the Plunge (Samuel French OOB Festival, NYMF), and The Almost In-Laws (Take a Ten Musicals). He has collaborated with Marvin Hamlisch (White House Governors’ Dinner, Mr. Hamlisch’s holiday tour) and Arthur Laurents (Love Affair). Greg’s essays are published in Avidly (Los Angeles Review of Books) and McSweeney’s, and his game Jessica Plunkenstein and the Dusseldorf Conspiracy (NYT “Best Adventure Game of the Year”) was published by PC Gamer UK. Honors and approximations thereof include the BMI Harrington Award, the Fred Ebb Award (two-time finalist), and a Nickelodeon Writing Fellowship (top-12 semifinalist). Greg graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Yale, belongs to the BMI Workshop and Dramatists Guild Fellows, and can be stalked most effectively at www.greged.com.

ANDY SANDBERG is a writer, director, actor, and Tony Award-winning producer. He has written the scripts for Application Pending and Craving for Travel (co-authored with Greg Edwards), and he directed their world premieres Off-Broadway. Application Pending received the BroadwayWorld Award for Best Off-Broadway Play and a Drama Desk Award nomination for Outstanding Solo Show. He recently directed the world premiere of Straight, which was named a Critics’ Pick by The New York Times. Other directing credits include the world premieres of Operation Epsilon (Four IRNE Awards, including Best Play, Best Director), Shida (AUDELCO nominations, Best Director and Best Musical; Ars Nova / A.R.T.) and The Last Smoker in America (Westside Theatre). Upcoming: Sacrilegious, by Academy Award winner Tom Schulman, and Night for Day, by Academy Award nominee Nicholas Kazan. He has been represented on Broadway as a producer of HAIR (2009 Tony Award; also London’s West End), The Best Man (2012 Tony nomination), and The Realistic Joneses. Also as producer: A Perfect Future (Off-Broadway); Hal Prince’s Paradise Found (London); and Pageant (Drama Desk nomination – Best Revival). B.A. Yale University. Sandberg is a proud member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, Actors’ Equity Association, and the Off-Broadway League. He currently sits on the boards of the Yale Dramatic Association, the Whiffenpoof Alumni Association, and the Browning School (NYC). He is President of both the Browning Alumni Association and the Yale Alley Cats Alumni Organization. AndySandberg.com / @Andy_Sandberg

From Book Pipeline:“Timely, wonderfully crafted comedy serving as a sort of low-key commentary on the pressures of giving our children a scholastic advantage no matter the cost or sacrifice–and the lunacy that comes with it. Although one needn’t read between lines to see the point. Seemingly hyperbolic yet entirely grounded. As a play, it’s a single-actress, rapid-fire comedy (and wow, what an actress it would take to juggle a variety of characters besides the lead. . . .). As a potential TV series, lots of promise to slide into a landscape ripe for this type of timeless humor and original setting. All-around wonderful piece helmed by two experienced writers who’d fit nicely into the world of film and TV.”

– Finalists (3) –

Liberty by Sarah Lawrence

Sarah Lawrence has a variety of theater projects in the works. Duende: Recuerdos de Flamenco, a full-length drama about the ancient Spanish art form, recently placed as a top-five finalist in the Julie Harris/Neil Simon Competition. It was selected in September, 2016, by the Good to Go Festival organization for a residency in Vermont and now advances to New York for a workshop at the Prospect Theater in the fall of 2017. Bibo and Bertie was named a Winner in the 2016 Writer’s Digest Competition and was chosen by the National Winter Playwriting Residency in January of 2017 for further development. Bibo and Bertie, a drama about the last year of Albert Einstein’s life, is scheduled for a premier production in Tampa, Florida next season. She is also working with two Dallas-based composers on Yellow Rose, a Big-Ass Texas Musical about the life of Emily West who some same was responsible for the Texas victory over Mexico in its war of independence in 1836.

Her most recently produced play was All Ye Who Enter Here which ran in 2014 at the historic off-Broadway Soho Playhouse in New York. Her first play, Liberty, was the recipient of the Southern Playwrights’Award. As such, it was awarded a full production at the Kennedy Center. Liberty was just announced as a finalist in the Book Pipeline Competition, a national search for plays suited to adaptation to the screen.

Lawrence wrote six plays in the 1990s and enjoyed some early success, including winning a national comedy contest with her send-up of Elvis worship, The King and Me. In Dallas, she founded and served as Executive Director of the Playwrights Project, a regional play development organization. Lawrence is also the author of several nonfiction books and articles, including Entrepreneurship: Building the American Dream (West Educational Publishing, 1994) and 50 Great Business Ideas for Teens (Simon & Schuster/Arco, 1990 & 1997).

Two years ago, she embarked on an MFA program, Writing for Stage and Screen, at the New Hampshire Institute of Arts, graduating in 2016. During that time, she completed four full-length works: Yellow Rose, The Legend of Emily West;A More Perfect Union—an adaptation for the screen of her play Liberty;Duende:Recuerdos de Flamenco; and most recently Bibo & Bertie.

Stay Younger Longer by Ryan Hyatt

Ryan Hyatt was born in Tucson in 1976 and spent his twenties bouncing between jobs in Arizona and California, serving as staff writer for publications such as The Apache Junction Independent and Santa Monica Daily Press.

The Death of Rock and Roll (2007), Ryan’s debut novel, is a modern western that chronicles a love triangle between an up-and-coming guitarist, a jealous psychopath and their muse.

More recent novels include Stay Younger Longer (2015) and Rise of the Liberators (2017), science fiction thrillers that are part of Ryan’s Terrafide series, techy tales of woe and hope in which characters grapple with the economic and environmental realities of a world falling apart.

Stay Younger Longer centers around Dick White, a 28-year-old Los Angeles bachelor and journalist, who is put in peril after he learns a popular anti-aging drug called Euphoria is a biological weapon, leaving Dick to find the eccentric criminal who has developed a cure that might save countless lives, including his own.

Currently, Ryan holds a master’s degree in special education with a focus on K-12 literacy issues. He lives with his wife and daughter in Los Angeles, where he teaches English to high school students with learning challenges.

For more updates on the state of the future, visit Ryan’s satirical science fiction news site, thelalalander.com.

Laura Kalpakian is the author of sixteen novels, two novellas and four collections of short fiction published in the US and the UK. Her many stories and memoir essays have been published in British and American magazines and literary quarterlies.

Her work has been accorded a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship, a Pushcart Prize, the PEN West Award for Short Fiction, the Anahid Award for an American writer of Armenian descent and the Pacific Northwest Booksellers’ Award. Her 2007 novel, American Cookery was nominated for the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award.

A native Californian, Laura was educated on both the west coast and the east coast. She has a Masters in History, and she studied in the Literature program at University of California, San Diego. Combining history, literature and writing, she has taught Memory in Memoir at the University of Washington and other places. She has a long fascination with theatrical history, film and music.

The Price of Admissionis a novel of loyalties, secrets and betrayals set in 1950’s Hollywood amid the stars who glittered in the heavens, and the directors, producers and studio chiefs who made their lives hell. Anyone tarred with the Red brush is blacklisted; careers are wrecked, and aspirations turn to desperation. It will be a Berkeley book in 2018.

Zach Fortier was a police officer for over 30 years, specializing in K-9, SWAT, gang, domestic violence, and sex crimes as an investigator. He has written five books about police work. Curbchek, the first book, is a case-by-case account of the streets, as he worked them from the start of his 30 career. Streetcreds details the time Zach spent in a gang task force and the cases that occurred. The third book is by far the most gritty: Curbchek-Reload, where Zach is damaged–and dangerously so, suffering from PTSD and the day-to-day violence of working the street. Hero To Zero is Zach’s fourth book and recalls cops he worked with that were incredibly talented but ended up going down in flames–some ended up in jail, prison, and one on the FBI’s ten most wanted list. Released in 2014, Landed On Black covers the constant state of hyper-vigilance required to survive the double crosses and betrayals that occurred on the streets and in the police department.

In the biography I am Raymond Washington, Zach offers an unprecedented illustration of the original founder of the Crips gang. Filled with eyewitness accounts and recollections from friends and family, a complete portrayal is presented of this still enigmatic figure. In addition to winning Book Pipeline, I am Raymond Washington has garnered numerous awards:

From Book Pipeline:“It can be difficult to strike an unbiased balance when profiling any polarizing individual, let alone one as enigmatic as Raymond Washington, a still lesser-known figure even amongst those familiar with the Crips/Bloods rivalry and the Los Angeles gang landscape from the 60s to the present day. For a former police officer to remain impartial and extract the truth behind one of the country’s most notorious gang leaders? Difficult, indeed.

But Zach Fortier’s exploration into the life and evolution of Raymond Washington considers a number of angles, theories, and stories from the men who witnessed firsthand the formation of the Crips and the true persona of a man most now acknowledge as the real founder of the Crips. The result is a truly compelling narrative. Part biography on Raymond, part exposé into the culture and origins of gang life, Fortier neither glorifies nor vilifies Raymond Washington or his counterparts. As someone with so many years of direct experience working with gangs, Fortier poses a running question here far bigger than Raymond Washington alone: what compels someone to start, join, and stay in an organized gang? What is it about the lifestyle that continues to draw in thousands of young people worldwide every year? Educated assumptions are made by Fortier, but he’s careful not to paint this portrait in black and white.

In its own way, Raymond’s legendary status is the stuff of Godfather-esque proportions on a smaller scale (arguably. . .), yet no less significant in the evolution of urban America. It’s a story relatively limited in scope (Raymond was killed at 25), but broad in social implication—and as such, it’s one with documentary, scripted TV series, and feature film possibilities. A grounded Shakespearian epic taking place in a small collection of neighborhoods in Los Angeles, ripe for adaptation.”

– Finalists (6) –

Executive Outcomes by Nick Bicanic

Nick Bicanic is a filmmaker and a technologist who mixes left brain and right brain stuff on an ongoing basis.

Charming if desired–rude and cutting if required–Nick is equally at home on an MMA fighting mat, a unix command prompt, a mast-high crushing north swell, behind the controls of a helicopter, convincing a board about strategic changes of direction, field-stripping a SIG 552 Commando blindfolded, or inventing new paradigms in mobile phone user interface design.

He wrote, directed, and produced the 4-time LEO award-winning documentary Shadow Company, a unique insight into the secret world of modern day soldiers for hire. It was critically acclaimed and resulted in multiple media appearances including ABC, NBC, CBS, Al-Jazeera, Fox News, and a testimony in front of US Congress as a subject matter expert on the usage of mercenaries in modern warfare.

More recently, he produced The War Against Boko Haram for VICE News and published his first book, Executive Outcomes, a graphic novel based on his script of the same name.

He is also a serial entrepreneur and is considered one of the best mobile product visionaries in Silicon Valley. He has raised money from Silicon Valley luminaries including Google Ventures and has spent the last four years running multiple teams developing consumer mobile apps on all mobile phone platforms.

Nick is currently a founder at RVLVR, a unique new VR/AR storytelling company.

A Fistful of Clones by Seaton Kay-Smith

With television writing credits including ABC’s Good Game and The Roast, as well as the latest season of You’re Skitting Me, Seaton Kay-Smith has written for A Rational Fear and Backchat on FBi Radio and performed stand-up comedy at Sydney Fringe (2012-2014), Adelaide Fringe (2013), and Sydney Comedy Festival (2013-2015). He also appeared on season 7 of Australia’s Got Talent in 2013.

In 2014, he wrote, produced, and performed in Lost Pilots, a comedy radio series on FBi. And in 2015 his debut novel, A Fistful of Clones, was published by Harper Collins.

He was selected as one of six emerging writers to attend the Screen Australia funded Deadlock Script Lab, and along with Nick Hunter was a finalist in the NSW Creative Achievement Awards.

Lamplighters by Frazer Lee

Frazer Lee is a novelist, screenwriter, and filmmaker.

His debut novel The Lamplighters was a Bram Stoker Award Finalist for ‘Superior Achievement in a First Novel’. Frazer’s other published works include the Amazon #1 horror/thriller Panic Button: The Official Movie Novelisation, novels The Jack in the Green and The Skintaker, and the Daniel Gates Adventures series of novellas.

Frazer’s screenplay credits include the acclaimed horror/thriller feature Panic Button, and multi-award winning short films On Edge, Red Lines, Simone, and The Stay. Frazer’s screenwriting and story consultant engagements have included commissions for Movie Mogul, Mediente, eMotion, and Vanquish Alliance Entertainment.

His film and television directing credits include the multi award-winning shorts On Edge and Red Lines, and the promo campaign for the Discovery Channel series True Horror With Anthony Head. His latest short film The Stay had its World Premiere at World Horror Con Atlanta USA 2015 and was awarded Best Atmosphere at the Independent Horror Movie Awards in October of that year. Frazer was named one of the Top 12 UK film directors in the MySpace.com Movie Mash-up contest by a panel including representatives from 20th Century Fox, Vertigo Films, and Film Four.

Frazer lectures in Creative Writing and Screenwriting at Brunel University London and Birkbeck, University of London and is an active member of the Horror Writers Association and International Thriller Writers. His guest speaking engagements have included The London Screenwriters Festival and The Guerilla Filmmakers Masterclass. Frazer Lee lives with his family in Buckinghamshire, England just across the cemetery from the actual Hammer House of Horror.

Frank D’Angeli’s (aka Douglas Wentworth) first writing effort was a spec screenplay that was purchased for the television series Columbo, making it only the second spec script ever purchased in Columbo‘s 35-year history. Frank’s debut novel, Stranded, in addition to placing as a finalist in Book Pipeline, was the gold medal winner in the sci-fi/fantasy category in the 2012 Independent Publishers Book Awards. The Stranded screenplay, co-written with David Hogan, was a finalist in the 2015 Script Pipeline First Look Contest. Frank’s second novel, CarnEvil, was also a finalist in the 2014 Book Pipeline Competition. The novel and the associated screenplay is in development with New England Capitol Pictures. His horror short story, The Tower, was awarded top honors in the 2015 Saugus.net Halloween Horror Contest.

Frank lives in Massachusetts with his wife and two dogs.

The Dress Thief by Natalie Meg Evans

Natalie Meg Evans (The Dress Thief) has been an art student, actor, PR copywriter, book-keeper and bartender. She is the author of three published novels which take as their starting point the turmoil of the late 1930s and World War Two and focus on the personal struggles of individuals caught up in these times. Though her writing occupies the commercial centre-ground, Natalie holds to the view that historical fiction can offer us a distant reflection of ourselves. Through history, we can view our current social crises from a clearer perspective. If that sounds overly earnest, each novel delves behind the scenes of a prestige industry: high fashion, millinery, wine making—rich arenas of human conflict!

Brought up in the UK, and presently living in rural Suffolk where she writes full time, Natalie was born in Zimbabwe, then Southern Rhodesia, to a mechanic father and a teacher mother. Her mother’s love of all things French made a deep impression, as did a spell in Paris at a formative age. Her first two books are set in that city.

Alejandra Diaz Mattoni lives and works in Los Angeles. She has a master’s degree in comparative literature and graduated from seminary a few years back. Her work has appeared in Gawker and The Morning News. The Wet Woman is her debut novel and is available on Amazon.

Alejandra is currently working on a screenplay about a Lebanese girl determined to play water polo, a young adult novel, and various short stories. When she’s not reading, her favorite way to relax is to put up her feet and write.

Milo Behr grew up in New York, Central America, Europe and the Middle East. His short fiction has appeared in anthologies alongside David Farland, Kevin J. Anderson, Eugie Foster, and others. Academically, he’s published through IEEE, ICSTC and others, and spoken at SIGGRAPH, BIA/Kelsey’s ILM, VFX and elsewhere. Milo has taught, and guest-lectures on, film production and information technology on the university level, and has twice been commended by the US Army for outstanding research. He invented DigiClay Animation (his animation shop was the first to computer-animate Gumby), Cryptocast streaming media encryption, and a variety of other technologies. He lives among the Rocky Mountains with his wife and three children.

From Book Pipeline: “Such a rich, immersive experience. The story digs in its feet from the first chapter and pushes the reader through a futuristic backdrop devoid of the tropes we see far too often. Milo has imagined a remarkably vivid neo-noir type world built upon a grounded sense of the future without sacrificing the expectations of the genre. Intentional or not, what’s most impressive is the malleability of the story: as a film, as a mini-series, or potentially a multiple-season TV show, given the episodic potential of the premise. Definitely an emerging sci-fi writing talent worth keeping an eye on.”

– Finalists (4) –

Auto-Erotica(drama) by Stacia Saint Owens

Stacia Saint Owens grew up in Leavenworth, Kansas. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Brown University, and a BFA in Theatre with a Playwriting concentration from Southern Methodist University. At Brown, she was awarded the university’s Weston Prize in Writing and a full Graduate School fellowship.

Her short story collection, Auto-Erotica, is the winner of the Tartt First Fiction Award and was shortlisted for the Saroyan International Prize in Writing. Her writing awards include The Princess Grace Foundation Award in Film, George Burns and Gracie Allan Comedy Writing Award, Slamdance Film Festival/ Sci-Fi Channel Horror Writing Award, Rosenfeld Playwriting Award, Independent Filmmakers Project (IFP) Screenwriters Lab, American Film Institute Television Writers Workshop, CineStory Foundation Screenwriting Fellowship (semi-finalist), Eugene O’Neill Theater Center National Playwrights Conference (finalist), Paramount Pictures Chesterfield Writer’s Film Project (finalist), Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Scriptwriting Internship (finalist) and Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Nicholl Fellowship in Screenwriting (quarterfinalist).

She has taught Drama and Creative Writing at public high schools in East Los Angeles and London’s East End; in a women’s prison; and at an Ivy League university. She is a former Lecturer in English Literature at Harrow College in London, where she currently lives. Read Auto-Erotica.

Hand Me Down(drama) by Melanie Thorne

Melanie Thorne is the author of Hand Me Down, a debut novel in the tradition of Dorothy Allison and Janet Fitch. A Kirkus Reviews Best Book of 2012 and a 2013 ALA Alex Award nominee, Hand Me Down received four stars from People and has been praised by media, including the San Francisco Chronicle, Daily Candy, the San Jose Mercury News, and the Associated Press. Melanie’s other writing has appeared in Good Housekeeping, Global City Review, and The Nervous Breakdown, and she earned her MA in Creative Writing from the University of CA, Davis.

She was awarded the Alva Englund Fellowship, the Maurice Prize in Fiction, and a residency at the Hedgebrook Writers’ Retreat, and she was a 2014 Virginia Quarterly Review Nonfiction Scholar and a 2014 PEN Center USA Emerging Voices Mentor.

W. Lawrence was born in San Francisco, California and moved two dozen times before settling in Pennsylvania with his extraordinarily patient wife and two precocious daughters. He wants a boy dog.

Besides placing as a finalist in Book Pipeline, Syncing Forward won the1st Place Gold Award in the 2015 Feathered Quill Book Awards Program for Science Fiction/Fantasy. When not writing, Lawrence works in the world of corporate security as an investigator and professional interviewer/interrogator. He is obsessed with 5K zombie runs, comes home empty-handed from hunting turkeys, and loves non-fiction books about pirates. He has no problem reconciling that his two favorite shows are Downton Abbey and The Walking Dead. Read Syncing Forward.

The Ringer(crime/drama) by Jenny Shank

Jenny Shank’s novel, The Ringer, won the High Plains Book Award and was a finalist for the Mountains & Plains independent Booksellers Association’s Reading the West Award.

Her stories, essays, satire, and reviews have appeared in The Atlantic, The Guardian, The Washington Post, McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, McSweeney’s, The Onion, Poets & Writers Magazine, Bust Magazine, Prairie Schooner,Alaska Quarterly Review, Dallas Morning News, PBS MediaShift, The Rumpus, The Toast, The Huffington Post and The McSweeney’s Book of Politics and Musicals.

She is a Mullin Scholar in writing at USC and teaches creative writing in the Mile High MFA at Regis University in Denver. She lives in Boulder, Colorado, with her husband, daughter, and son. Read The Ringer.